October 9, 2005

I glued the other half of frame #1 today. Here's a picture of the same process all over again. You can see the thermometer on the table there. Even though it's only high 70's, low 80's outside, the direct sunlight gives a reading of over a hundred degrees on the digital thermometer. Even though that's not too accurate, it's definitely warmer than 80 or even 90 degrees. The glue line cures very quickly with direct sunlight.

I cleaned up two more halves today from previous gluing. I've got a lot of halves lying around now ready to be joined.

Here are the soaked strips for frame #11 loaded into the mold and clamped. The extra length around the halfway point is necessary for keeping them flexible around the tight curves. The longer the strip, the more flexible it seems to be when there are tight curves like this. I also need the extra length for the scarf joint.

I also had the pleasure of some destructive fun today, rather than the usual constructive fun. The test block I made last week finished its 6 day cure cycle and got the hammer. Good results with obvious wood failure rather than glue failure. Looks like I can keep the frames I've glued with this batch of penacolite.

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